Manila: Two active police officers have been relieved from their posts for allegedly facilitating meetings between the families of missing "sabungeros" (cockfighting enthusiasts) and dismissed policemen implicated in the case, the Philippine National Police (PNP) said Thursday. The two officers - Highway Patrol Group (HPG) spokesperson Lt. Nadame Malang and Custodial Center warden Maj. Reynaldo Pa±ebe Jr. - were accused of arranging unauthorized visits involving detained former police officers at the PNP Custodial Center in Camp Crame.
According to Philippines News Agency, the relief orders took effect on Wednesday (May 20), based on a special order from the HPG and an incident report from the Headquarters Support Service (HSS). "Under the directives of our Chief PNP, General Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr., our chief Public Information Office in HPG, Lt. Nadame Malang, has been relieved from his post and is now in floating status," HPG director Brig. Gen. Rommel Batangan said during a press briefing. Malang was replaced by Lt. Col. Chitadel Gaoiran as officer in charge of the HPG Public Information Office.
Meanwhile, PNP-HSS acting chief Brig. Gen. Manuel Abrugena said Pa±ebe admitted allowing visitors into the facility but did not identify them. "According to his explanation to us when we talked to him, there were people who visited our PUPCs (persons under police custody). Now, he did not name them during our conversation with him," Abrugena told reporters, noting that the facility has designated visiting hours. He also said there is no "solid evidence" yet that unauthorized visitors were allowed into the center. Col. Joemar Felina has been designated to replace Pa±ebe as custodial facility warden.
PNP spokesperson Brig. Gen. Randulf Tua±o clarified that the relief orders were administrative in nature. "Hindi natin sinasabi na agad guilty 'yung dalawang personnel natin. Ngunit it's a matter of SOP (standard operating procedure) or proseso natin (We're not saying that our two personnel are already guilty. But it's a matter of SOP)," he said. "Ang ginagawa natin is immediate relief para hindi makaapekto sa ongoing investigation (What we did was an immediate relief to ensure they would not affect the ongoing investigation)," he added.
National Police Commission (Napolcom) Vice Chairperson and Executive Officer Rafael Vicente Calinisan on Wednesday presented five relatives of the victims who filed complaints against the two police officers. The families accused the officers of facilitating meetings between them and the detained former police officers implicated in the disappearances. The families alleged that they received amounts ranging from PHP20,000 to PHP40,000 from a lawyer purportedly representing prime suspect Charlie "Atong" Ang, supposedly for transportation expenses and compensation for attending the meetings. Calinisan directed the Napolcom Inspection, Monitoring and Investigation Service to conduct an investigation into the possible administrative liabilities of the officers involved.
